Global Pulse

作者： admin

  • Trump ousts Kimberly Guilfoyle as US ambassador to Greece after corruption allegations

    Trump ousts Kimberly Guilfoyle as US ambassador to Greece after corruption allegations

    The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has formally requested the resignation of Kimberly Guilfoyle from her post as U.S. Ambassador to Greece, White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia confirmed in a truncated first public briefing this week. The former Fox News host, who had held the Athens posting for less than six months, stepped down amid growing public and internal scrutiny over two serious sets of allegations: claims she solicited payment of a large personal credit card bill from a prominent Trump donor in exchange for political access, and reports of inappropriate behavior during her tenure in Greece.

    In on-the-record comments to reporters earlier this week, Trump acknowledged he was dissatisfied with the accusations levied against Guilfoyle. While he offered faint praise, noting he believed she had performed competently in the role, he confirmed she would no longer hold the ambassador position. “I didn’t like what I read,” the president stated plainly, adding that he had not spoken with Guilfoyle ahead of the resignation request and downplayed her long-standing connection to his family.

    Guilfoyle, 57, the ex-wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom and a one-time fiancée of Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr., has forcefully denied all wrongdoing. In an extensive post on the social platform X, she described her appointment as ambassador as “the honour of a lifetime,” thanked Trump for the opportunity, and pledged to remain a loyal supporter of his agenda. She vowed to “vigorously defend my name, my reputation, and my integrity,” emphasizing that she would not allow unsubstantiated claims to overshadow her decades of public service. Her legal team has challenged the authenticity of incriminating text messages obtained by major media outlets, arguing the correspondence reflects a request for payment of outstanding fees for pre-ambassadorship speech and consulting work completed for the donor, not an improper solicitation.

    The allegations that triggered Guilfoyle’s ousting first came to light in reporting by *The Wall Street Journal*, which was later corroborated by the BBC. Published text messages exchanged between Guilfoyle and Eric Deters, a long-time Trump ally and donor, appear to show her pushing Deters to wire funds directly to American Express to cover her personal debt. “It won’t show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express,” she wrote in one message on the encrypted messaging platform Signal. In a second message dated just days before her July 2024 U.S. Senate confirmation hearing, Guilfoyle pressed: “Honey please I need you to get this done for me today.” Deters has denied ever paying the sum, rejected Guilfoyle’s claim that he owed her consulting and speaking fees, and announced plans to file a lawsuit against her. Following news of the resignation, Deters called the development “a great day for American diplomacy.”

    Additional reporting from *The Wall Street Journal* also published audio recordings that reportedly capture Guilfoyle boasting about her close ties to high-profile Greek business tycoons, who she claimed provided her with luxury travel and private jet flights. She was also recorded making an inflammatory comment to an Athens official, claiming the U.S. government had the power to topple Greece’s elected government. By the time the resignation request was issued, top administration officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio — who traveled to Athens with Guilfoyle just last week — had also expressed public dissatisfaction with the mounting allegations, making her position in the role untenable.

    Guilfoyle’s path to the ambassadorship began in December 2024, when Trump nominated her for the posting one month before his second inauguration as president. Her engagement to Donald Trump Jr. ended earlier that year, shortly before her appointment. On Tuesday, Trump sought to distance the family from the scandal, noting “she, I guess, dated my son a long time ago” but was not considered a family member.

    The resignation announcement marked the first major public announcement from new White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia, a veteran conservative commentator and long-time Trump supporter. Her debut briefing ran just 14 minutes, an unusually short length for an inaugural press briefing. For the first eight minutes, Zacharia read a prepared list of the Trump administration’s early policy achievements before taking a small handful of questions on Guilfoyle, Ukraine, her personal background, and the administration’s approach to non-traditional media outlets. She framed her role as working to “amplify, multiply and expand upon President Trump’s incredible agenda,” and praised Guilfoyle as a “wonderful asset to the team” while adding the administration wished her well. Trump offered a positive assessment of Zacharia’s first performance, telling reporters he thought she had done “very good” work.

  • Former Polish governments used Israeli software to spy on opposition, says PM

    Former Polish governments used Israeli software to spy on opposition, says PM

    In a bombshell televised address delivered Monday, Poland’s current Prime Minister Donald Tusk has publicly confirmed what investigators have uncovered over two years of parliamentary probe: the former nationalist-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) administration abused Israeli-made Pegasus spyware to systematically target opposition politicians, critical members of the judiciary, and hundreds of other Polish citizens between 2017 and 2023.

    According to Tusk’s revelations, the PiS government paid a total of $7.65 million to acquire the sophisticated surveillance tool from Israel-based NSO Group, the developer of Pegasus. The spyware was first procured in late 2017, and was actively deployed for political purposes throughout its six years of use, including interference in the 2019 Polish parliamentary election. Media accounts of the investigation add that beyond political opponents and legal critics, dozens of figures within the PiS’s own ranks were also placed under illegal surveillance, bringing the total number of targeted individuals into the hundreds.

    Most alarmingly, Tusk emphasized that the full dataset collected by Pegasus on Polish citizens remained accessible to NSO Group, and was never fully controlled by Polish state authorities. “Imagine that the people responsible for justice and national security [in Poland] handed over thousands, tens of thousands, of sensitive details about Polish citizens to a foreign country, Israel, without having any control over it,” Tusk stated during the address. He also confirmed that multiple key Polish state institutions — including the Internal Security Agency, foreign intelligence services, the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, and the justice ministry — are all entangled in the growing surveillance scandal.

    This investigation was launched immediately after Tusk’s pro-European coalition took power in late 2023, following years of public allegations that the PiS administration had misused public funds to purchase Pegasus for targeting political rivals, critical journalists, and dissenting legal professionals.

    Senior figures from the former administration, including ex-Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, have pushed back against the findings, denying any illegal activity. They argue the spyware purchase was a critical national security measure, and all surveillance operations were carried out with proper approval from Polish judges. However, the head of the parliamentary inquiry refuted that claim Monday, noting that the judges who authorized surveillance warrants did not have full information about the broad, invasive capabilities of Pegasus technology.

    Pegasus, one of the world’s most notorious cyber-surveillance tools, is capable of covertly infiltrating smartphones, including WhatsApp accounts, to steal private messages, photos, call logs, location data, and other sensitive personal information. NSO Group, its developer, has been at the center of global controversy for years over the misuse of its technology by government clients to target political opponents and activists. The company has been under U.S. ownership since 2024. In 2025, it lost a federal civil lawsuit filed by Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, over NSO’s illegal targeting of the platform’s users. A court initially ordered NSO to pay $167 million in damages, later reduced to $4 million, and issued a permanent ban barring the firm from targeting any WhatsApp users globally.

    The Biden administration previously blacklisted NSO Group, prohibiting the company from conducting any business with U.S. companies unless it receives explicit special approval, after determining that the firm’s activities posed a threat to U.S. foreign policy and national security. Under the second Trump administration that took office in 2025, however, reports indicate NSO Group is actively lobbying to have the blacklist designation removed. Last year, the firm appointed David Friedman, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Israel during Trump’s first presidential term from 2017 to 2021, as its new executive chair, a move widely seen as part of its efforts to improve its standing with the current U.S. administration.

  • Ex-gang boss sentenced to 40 years for orchestrating Tupac Shakur’s murder

    Ex-gang boss sentenced to 40 years for orchestrating Tupac Shakur’s murder

    Nearly 30 years after one of the most high-profile unsolved killings in modern American music history, a long-running cold case has finally reached a landmark sentencing phase. Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a 63-year-old former leader of the South Side Compton Crips street gang, has received a 40-year prison term for plotting the 1996 drive-by shooting death of global rap superstar Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas. A jury found Davis guilty of murder with a deadly weapon back in September, and Davis has already announced plans to challenge the conviction through an appeal. This conviction marks the first time any defendant has been found guilty in the case that has captivated hip-hop fans and true crime observers around the world for almost three decades. Prosecutors built their case around the argument that while Davis never pulled the trigger himself, he acted as the mastermind behind the fatal attack. In a stunning revelation, Davis openly admitted in his own memoir that he supplied the firearm used to kill Shakur. The core evidence used to convict Davis came directly from his own repeated public statements about his proximity to the shooting. In a 2008 secret police interview tied to the investigation into the killing of fellow rap legend Notorious B.I.G. — who was murdered just six months after Shakur — Davis shared details of his role in the Shakur killing in exchange for immunity from prosecution. He expanded on these claims much further in his 2019 tell-all memoir *Compton Street Legend*, which generated widespread media attention and led to a string of public interviews. However, Davis’ choice to go public with his account voided the immunity agreement he had struck with authorities, clearing the way for prosecutors to file criminal charges and allowing his 2008 police testimony to be entered as evidence against him at trial. According to prosecutors, Davis ordered the 7 September 1996 shooting and provided the gun to his nephew, Orlando Anderson, who fired the fatal shots from a white Cadillac where Davis was also riding. Anderson always denied any involvement in Shakur’s killing and was killed in an unrelated gang shooting in 1998, so he never faced trial in the case. Davis’ defense team pushed back hard against the prosecution’s narrative throughout the trial, arguing that Davis’ public comments were nothing more than exaggerated bravado designed to boost book sales and profit off his connection to one of the most famous crimes in pop culture. At the time of his death, Shakur was just 25 years old and at the peak of his career, widely regarded as one of the most influential and impactful voices in the history of hip-hop. He has sold more than 75 million albums worldwide, and his work continues to shape rap and popular culture decades after his passing. For 30 years, the unsolved mystery of his killing spawned countless conspiracy theories and remained one of the most high-profile cold cases in American law enforcement, until Davis’ conviction last year brought the first legal resolution to the case.

  • War in the Middle East is deepening global inequality, IMF says

    War in the Middle East is deepening global inequality, IMF says

    As top global financial leaders gathered this week in Bangkok for annual international economic meetings, the International Monetary Fund issued a stark warning on Tuesday: ongoing conflicts across the Middle East are rapidly widening the economic gap between wealthy and poor nations worldwide, deepening systemic global inequality.

    In its newly released World Economic Outlook report, the IMF outlined that multiple concurrent regional tensions — including escalated conflict around the Gulf, open hostilities with Iran, and Israel’s military campaign in Gaza — are key drivers behind the growing divide between economic winners and vulnerable, disadvantaged economies. These conflicts are not the only sources of rising global instability, the organization noted: climate change-related shocks, persistently high global energy prices, and rapid disruptive technological change, most notably the exponential rise of artificial intelligence, are also amplifying systemic economic risk.

    IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva cautioned that current projections suggest over the long term, AI could reshape the global labor market dramatically, with up to 40 percent of all existing jobs facing modification, downgraded responsibilities, or full elimination. Developing and low-income nations, Georgieva emphasized, will bear the brunt of all these overlapping crises, as they lack the financial and institutional resources to compete with wealthy countries for limited global supplies of critical goods, from energy to food to advanced technology.

    World Bank President Ajay Banga echoed these concerns during his remarks in Bangkok, noting a major global shift in how nations frame their economic priorities: “What’s happening is that every country has now suddenly figured out that energy security is national security.”

    The IMF’s data confirms the immediate economic damage of Middle East conflicts: Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar have all seen major disruptions to their oil and gas exports amid tensions with Iran, with the IMF forecasting double-digit contractions in total annual economic output for these states this year. For Saudi Arabia, whose more diversified economy was projected to shrink by 3.3 percent this year before returning to 7.9 percent growth in 2027, that forecast was finalized before recent attacks targeting Riyadh’s international airport and other key infrastructure. Ongoing Houthi attacks across the region have upended this projection, putting the kingdom’s fast-growing tourism sector — a core pillar of its long-term economic diversification plan — at severe risk. Multiple expatriate residents of Riyadh have told Middle East Eye that a growing number of foreign workers no longer feel safe living in the kingdom, threatening a key source of labor for the expanding tourism and service sectors.

    Beyond Middle East conflicts, the IMF also cited Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and the large-scale trade tariffs first implemented by former U.S. President Donald Trump as additional core contributors to global economic fragmentation and instability. Banga told Reuters that while global growth performed better than initially expected after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz — a strategic chokepoint through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s global oil supplies pass — new economic pressures are already building rapidly.

    Multiple overlapping crises are hitting vulnerable economies simultaneously: skyrocketing diesel prices, surging costs for agricultural fertilizer that drive up global food prices, and the looming threat of a powerful “super” El Niño event that climate experts project could cause up to 450,000 heat-related deaths globally.

    IMF Chief Economist Silvana Tenreyro warned that a prolonged period of conflict in the Middle East would only add more upward pressure on already high global inflation and slow already muted growth. “The economy has been resilient, but that resilience is reaching its limits,” Tenreyro said.

    The IMF’s baseline forecast projects global growth will hit 3.1 percent this year and edge up slightly to 3.4 percent in 2027, but the organization stressed that this headline figure “masks a reallocation of growth across economies”. Low-income countries that rely on oil imports and lack competitive advanced technology sectors face a sharply elevated risk that recent overlapping shocks will widen income gaps between and within national economies.

    Global inflation is projected to rise to 4.7 percent this year before easing slightly to 4.1 percent in 2026, the IMF reported, with growing numbers of households across the world already struggling to cover skyrocketing energy and basic living costs.

  • Cornell bans all fraternity parties over gang sex assault allegations

    Cornell bans all fraternity parties over gang sex assault allegations

    Ithaca, NY – Cornell University, one of the nation’s most prestigious Ivy League institutions, has implemented a sweeping ban on all social gatherings at campus fraternity houses for the remainder of the 2024-2025 academic year, following widespread public backlash over the university’s handling of an alleged 2024 gang sexual assault at a fraternity event. The controversial case, which has sparked renewed scrutiny of how U.S. colleges and local law enforcement respond to campus sexual violence claims, has already prompted state-level investigations and calls for systemic reform.

    Last month, a 2024 assault survivor, identified only as Jane Doe in court filings, filed a civil lawsuit against Cornell and the individuals involved, alleging she was intentionally given intoxicating drugs before being gang-raped by multiple men at a fraternity party. The lawsuit and the subsequent public outcry have put immense pressure on Cornell’s administration to take decisive action after reports of institutional mishandling of the initial claim.

    In an official public statement released Tuesday, Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff announced a series of urgent policy changes in response to the allegations, starting with the immediate ban on all fraternity-hosted parties. Violators of the new policy will face immediate suspension from the university, Kotlikoff confirmed.

    “I am deeply sorry for the harm Jane Doe suffered in 2024, and appalled that this act of sexual violence occurred within our Cornell community,” Kotlikoff said in the statement. “It is clear that women on our campus continue to question whether they are safe. We must meet this moment by acknowledging where we have fallen short and taking meaningful action.”

    Fraternities, which have operated as all-male residential social organizations on U.S. college campuses for more than a century, have long faced criticism for a pervasive culture of excessive alcohol consumption, unregulated social gatherings, and dangerous hazing practices that disproportionately put students at risk of harm. Critics have repeatedly argued that the insulated, secretive nature of many fraternity organizations creates an environment where sexual violence can occur with limited institutional accountability.

    Beyond the fraternity party ban, Kotlikoff outlined several additional reforms aimed at improving support for sexual assault survivors on campus. The university will expand staffing for sexual misconduct reporting and support services, to ensure survivors have consistent, accessible guidance when navigating reporting processes and accessing care. Currently, under federal Title IX legislation, all U.S. higher education institutions are required to provide reasonable support to help survivors continue their education after an assault; Doe’s legal team has confirmed she dropped out of Cornell following the alleged attack.

    In a key change to investigative protocols, Kotlikoff announced the university will allow specially trained, trauma-informed officers from the New York State Police to lead all criminal investigations of on-campus sexual assault allegations going forward. These officers will conduct interviews with survivors who wish to pursue criminal charges and prepare full, comprehensive investigative summaries for the relevant prosecuting agency.

    This change comes after sharp criticism of the information sharing between Cornell’s internal investigation and the local Tompkins County District Attorney’s office. Out of hundreds of documents generated by Cornell’s internal probe, Tompkins County DA Matthew Van Houten confirmed his office only received a six-page victim statement and Snapchat messages from the party showing fraternity members advertised a free sexual encounter with Doe. State officials have also publicly criticized Van Houten’s decision to not bring criminal charges or conduct independent interviews with Doe and potential witnesses. In response to growing outcry, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed State Attorney General Letitia James to lead an independent investigation into both the university’s handling of the case and the DA’s prosecutorial decision-making.

    Finally, Kotlikoff confirmed Cornell will bring in national sexual violence prevention experts to conduct an independent review of systemic factors contributing to campus sexual violence at Cornell, and to develop evidence-based strategies to promote a culture of consent and responsible sexual citizenship. The president emphasized that the announced reforms are just the first step in what will be a broader process of systemic change to improve campus safety.

    The case has reignited national debates about accountability for campus sexual assault, with survivors’ advocacy groups pointing to it as evidence of ongoing failures by both university administrations and local law enforcement to protect students and hold perpetrators accountable.

  • Argentina lodges legal claim against UK’s Falklands oil exploration

    Argentina lodges legal claim against UK’s Falklands oil exploration

    Decades-long tensions between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the Falkland Islands (known to Argentinians as Las Malvinas) have reached a new boiling point, as the Argentinian government has initiated formal legal proceedings at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) to halt oil and gas exploration activities in waters north of the disputed territory. The legal filing, lodged by Buenos Aires, targets what Argentina calls the “illegally” authorized hydrocarbon projects approved by the UK, marking the latest escalation in a conflict that first erupted into open war more than 40 years ago.

    The current confrontation ignited two weeks ago, when newly elected Argentinian President Javier Milei publicly called for the full cancellation of the Sea Lion oilfield project, a major joint venture between UK-based Rockhopper Exploration and Israeli energy firm Navitas Petroleum. Just weeks prior, Milei had already threatened to impose sweeping economic sanctions on any companies operating in hydrocarbon reserves near the Falklands, a threat that prompted immediate pushback from British authorities.

    In an address to the UK House of Commons on Tuesday, Foreign Office minister Uma Kumaran condemned Argentina’s escalating campaign against energy firms operating in the Falklands, and simultaneously announced new protective measures to shield the companies from potential Argentine action. Kumaran openly accused Buenos Aires of engaging in “economic coercion” against the 3,500 residents of the self-governing British territory, stating bluntly: “We will do whatever it takes to support them.”

    The Sea Lion project, located approximately 209 kilometers (130 miles) off the Falklands coast, holds an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil. The Falkland Islands government extended the exploration licenses for the project last month, with production currently slated to begin in 2028. Industry analysts project the field could generate massive new revenue streams for the small island population, if development proceeds as planned. Both Rockhopper and Navitas have repeatedly confirmed that their operating licenses, issued through Falkland Islands authorities and approved by the UK, are fully legally valid under international law.

    Argentina’s legal argument centers on two core claims: first, that Argentina holds exclusive sovereign rights over the disputed continental shelf, and second, that the marine environment of the area is protected under international law that prohibits unilateral authorization of resource extraction. In a public post on X, Argentinian Foreign Affairs Minister Pablo Quirno outlined that the government is asking the Hamburg-based ITLOS, an independent judicial body tasked with upholding the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to issue a series of orders against the UK, including an immediate moratorium on all new exploration permits in the area. “This application seeks to preserve Argentina’s sovereign rights over its continental shelf and prevent activities authorised unilaterally and illegally by the United Kingdom,” Quirno wrote.

    British authorities have rejected all of Argentina’s claims outright. They insist the Sea Lion field sits squarely on the Falkland Islands continental shelf, and all operations are properly regulated by the islands’ legitimate government, with final sign-off required from the UK Foreign Secretary per existing regulatory frameworks. Kumaran emphasized that Argentina’s legal filing “does not invalidate licenses issued by the Falkland Islands government, alter the islands’ regulatory authority, or require lawful hydrocarbon development activities to cease.”

    While UK officials confirm the country will fully engage with the ITLOS process, they have also made clear they will firmly resist Argentina’s claims. The new protective measures, introduced under the 1980 Protection of Trading Interests Act, are designed to shield energy companies from any extra-territorial impact of future Argentine sanctions, addressing growing anxiety among business stakeholders about potential retaliation from Buenos Aires. UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband issued a clear rebuke of Argentina’s actions: “Argentina’s attempts to intimidate businesses and individuals engaged in legitimate commercial activity are unacceptable. Companies should be free to make lawful commercial decisions without the threat of political coercion.”

    The latest escalation follows a fiery address Milei gave to the UN General Assembly late last month, where he launched a blistering attack on the international body for its failure to address Argentina’s sovereignty claim over the Falklands. In his speech, Milei called the UN “a useless organisation” that only serves “arrogant parasites dressed up as well-intentioned bureaucrats” — remarks Kumaran dismissed this week as “inflammatory.”

    Though Argentina was defeated by British military forces after its 1982 invasion of the Falklands, successive Argentinian governments have never withdrawn their formal sovereignty claim over the territory. However, the intensity of diplomatic and political pressure around the claim has varied widely across administrations. UK foreign policy officials have publicly suggested that the current hardline stance from Milei’s government is a deliberate strategy to galvanize domestic support ahead of Argentine national elections scheduled for next year.

  • Saudi Arabia refuses request from Netanyahu to join fight against Houthis, says report

    Saudi Arabia refuses request from Netanyahu to join fight against Houthis, says report

    Long-simmering regional tensions have taken a new turn following a deadly attack on Saudi Arabia’s capital that has upended tentative efforts toward Israeli-Saudi diplomatic normalization, Israeli and regional media reports confirm.

    According to reporting from Israeli outlet Haaretz, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu worked through United States mediation to extend a formal offer of military support to Saudi Arabia against the Houthi movement in Yemen. For Israeli leadership, the proposal was framed as a strategic opportunity: not only would it allow the country to directly strike at a proxy of its top regional rival Iran, but it could also rebuild momentum for normalization talks that had stalled after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023. Prior to the Gaza conflict, former U.S. President Donald Trump and Netanyahu had heavily promoted plans for normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, following the 2020 Abraham Accords that saw the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco establish formal ties with Israel.

    However, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman rejected the Israeli offer outright. Senior diplomatic sources cited by Haaretz note the crown prince’s decision was driven by fears of widespread public backlash across Saudi Arabia, where popular opposition to normalization with Israel has surged amid the ongoing military campaign in Gaza that has been widely described as a genocide by international observers.

    The catalyst for Israel’s overture came after a devastating attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport that left at least 13 people dead and more than 300 injured. The attack, which dramatically escalated tensions between the Houthi movement and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, prompted immediate condemnation from Netanyahu, who released a public statement of condolence on the social platform X. “I condemn in the strongest possible terms the horrific terrorist attack … which claimed the lives of 12 innocent people and injured hundreds more,” Netanyahu wrote. “On behalf of the people of Israel, I extend our deepest condolences to the families of those murdered and our wishes for a full recovery to the injured.”

    Just days after the airport attack, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree announced the group had shot down a Saudi Wing Loong II armed reconnaissance drone in northern Yemen’s Saada province. Saree claimed the aircraft was conducting hostile operations over the region when it was targeted by Houthi forces.

    Meanwhile, Iran, which has long been linked to the Houthi movement and is a major diplomatic rival of Israel, has stepped in to urge a diplomatic resolution to the escalating crisis. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi extended a formal offer of dialogue facilitation during a Sunday telephone call with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, a move confirmed by both Saudi state media and Iranian outlets.

    Araghchi emphasized that clinging to a military-only strategy would only deepen regional instability, telling the Saudi foreign minister: “Insisting on a military approach and disregarding a political solution would only further complicate the situation. All crises in the region have no military solutions.” He added that Tehran stood ready to support negotiations between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi movement to reach a lasting political settlement.

  • Hunger strike in Lebanese prisons ends after settlement over amnesty bill reached

    Hunger strike in Lebanese prisons ends after settlement over amnesty bill reached

    After 30 days of mass open-ended hunger strike that left at least seven participants dead and dozens more in critical condition, hundreds of incarcerated people in Lebanon announced an end to their protest on Monday, following a negotiated settlement over a divisive general amnesty bill.

    The legislation, originally approved by Lebanon’s parliament in August, was designed to tackle the country’s long-running severe prison overcrowding crisis by shortening sentences for thousands of inmates. The crisis is most acute at Roumieh, Lebanon’s largest prison, which holds more than 4,000 people in a facility built for just 1,000 — operating at 300% of its intended capacity. Systemic delays in judicial processing have worsened the crisis, with hundreds of detainees held for years without ever going to trial.

    However, the bill immediately faced opposition after a parliamentary bloc filed a legal appeal challenging its legality. Critics raised two major red flags: first, that the legislation’s vague original text would allow the release of Islamist detainees accused of carrying out deadly attacks against Lebanese military personnel, and second, that the broad amnesty amounted to a “trojan horse” that would pardon financial crimes, corruption offenses tied to Lebanon’s 2019 catastrophic economic collapse, and even grave violations including war crimes and crimes against humanity.

    Lebanese lawyer and researcher Nizar Saghieh compared the original draft to the 1991 general amnesty law passed at the end of the country’s 15-year civil war, which cleared most militia fighters and leaders of wrongdoing. “This law took the form of a self-amnesty, a blanket amnesty really, because it is unconditional, just like the general amnesty of the 90s,” he explained.

    The country’s Constitutional Council ultimately rejected the legal appeal, but ordered sweeping changes to the text: removing some controversial clauses and amending others to narrow the scope of who qualifies for reduced sentences. The revisions added new restrictions that exclude many inmates serving life sentences from benefiting from the legislation.

    More than 600 prisoners launched their hunger strike to protest the months-long suspension of the original bill, which they saw as their only path to early release after years of prolonged detention. The protest took a devastating toll: 72 strikers became critically ill and required emergency hospitalization, and the Prisoners’ Families Committee confirmed at least seven participants died due to medical neglect or complications from pre-existing conditions aggravated by the hunger strike.

    Even with the end of the protest and the revised bill moving forward, many families of incarcerated people remain ambivalent about the outcome. Hamza, a resident of Tripoli whose brother Omar has been detained without trial on terrorism charges for 14 years since he was 18, welcomed the ruling that will allow Omar to benefit from the shortened sentence. But he expressed sorrow for other inmates who were excluded from the amnesty by the Constitutional Council’s amendments. “Our joy is incomplete, to be honest,” he said. Names have been changed to protect Hamza and Omar’s identities at their request.

    The resolution of the hunger strike brings a temporary end to a standoff that exposed deep rifts in Lebanon over judicial reform, prison conditions, and accountability for past crimes and political and economic wrongdoing.

  • Pope admitted to hospital for surgery to remove lump on his lung

    Pope admitted to hospital for surgery to remove lump on his lung

    On a Tuesday morning in Rome, 71-year-old Pope Leo XIV arrived at Rome’s renowned Gemelli Hospital to undergo scheduled thoracic surgery to remove a benign-seeming lung nodule first identified during a routine health assessment conducted by Vatican medical teams. The procedure was set to get underway that same afternoon, led by the hospital’s top specialized thoracic surgery unit, with an official health update promised to the public by Tuesday evening.

    As the Pope’s motorcade pulled up to the hospital entrance, hundreds of faithful followers had gathered hours in advance to catch a brief sight of the pontiff. As he passed through the crowd, supporters cheered words of encouragement and extended warm well wishes, and the Pope responded with waves and a calm smile from the open back window of his vehicle. When hospital staff greeted him on the steps, expressing sympathy for his medical procedure, Leo responded with a good-humored smile and a casual shrug, reassuring the team that he was calm and ready for the operation.

    The news of the upcoming surgery was first broken to the global public by the Pope himself this past Sunday. Speaking from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Square immediately after delivering the traditional weekly Angelus blessing, the pontiff confirmed the growth had been caught at a very early stage and remained contained, but that his medical team had recommended its removal as a preventative measure. All public papal engagements have been canceled through October 20 to allow for a full, unrushed post-operative recovery.

    Medical context notes that lung nodules are relatively common and not automatically malignant, though all removed growths will be sent for pathological testing to rule out cancer. Vatican officials have repeatedly emphasized that the Pope, who is generally regarded as being in good overall health, showed no symptoms of illness or infection prior to the routine scan that detected the nodule.

    Cardinal Kikuchi Tarcisio Isao of Tokyo confirmed in a social media post that he met the Pope for a scheduled audience on Monday, one day before the surgery, and reported that the pontiff said he felt no physical discomfort whatsoever. According to the cardinal, the Pope chose to move forward with the procedure quickly to protect his planned travel schedule: he is set to embark on a high-profile trip to Latin America in early November, a journey with deep personal meaning that includes a stop in Peru, where Leo served for decades as a missionary and later as a bishop before his election to the papacy.

    Despite the consistent reassurances from Vatican officials and the Pope’s own calm demeanor, the announcement has prompted widespread concern among Catholic communities across the globe. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin acknowledged to reporters on Tuesday that the news came as a surprise, describing it as a “bolt from the blue.” Even so, Parolin noted that the entire College of Cardinals has been deeply reassured by the Pope’s steady serenity, and the institution holds full confidence in a full recovery.

    Hours after the Pope was admitted to the hospital, small groups of faithful remained gathered outside the facility, which has a long history of treating sitting popes and displays a large public statue of Pope John Paul II on its grounds. Carla, one worshipper who traveled to Rome specifically to be near the hospital during the procedure, told reporters that the Pope’s calm has helped steady the faithful. “He seems calm, so we are calm too — even though illness is always unpleasant,” she said. “We will wait here and pray.”

    Another attendee, Elsa, recalled being present in St. Peter’s Square when the Pope made the announcement, saying she was caught completely off guard. “I was really taken aback. When Pope Leo was elected, I thought we had a younger, healthier pontiff,” she explained. “It turns out he’s vulnerable too. I really hope it’s something superficial, that can be contained, like he told us.”

  • A ‘landmark’ moment – why has Rwanda been chosen to host F1?

    A ‘landmark’ moment – why has Rwanda been chosen to host F1?

    After nearly four decades away from the African continent, Formula 1 has announced a historic agreement that will bring the African Grand Prix to Rwanda, marking the end of a 10-year push by series owners Liberty Media to expand the sport into untapped global markets. The announcement was made Tuesday at an official event in Kigali, with F1 president Stefano Domenicali joining Rwandan President Paul Kagame and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem on stage to mark the occasion.

    Liberty Media has held an ambition to host a Formula 1 race on African soil since it acquired the commercial rights to the sport in early 2017, and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has publicly advocated for adding an African race to the calendar for years. Rwanda beat out competing bids from Morocco, South Africa and other interested nations to secure the hosting rights, signing a 10-year contract that will see the first race held in the early 2030s. What set Rwanda apart from rival bidders was its cohesive, unified proposal with secured financial backing and a clear long-term vision for the project, while Morocco struggled to source sufficient funding and South Africa advanced four separate conflicting proposals across three different locations that F1’s leadership deemed unworkable for an already crowded global calendar.

    The new purpose-built circuit will be constructed on a greenfield site in Bugesera, approximately 25 miles south of Kigali, as part of a large mixed-use development adjacent to a new international airport currently under construction. The development will include not just the race track, but also residential neighborhoods, hotels, spas, sports science facilities, an entertainment district and an innovation hub. Insiders familiar with the project have confirmed that there are no expected barriers to completing construction ahead of the proposed 2030 launch date.

    Designed by former F1 driver Alex Wurz, the 6km circuit is planned to leverage Rwanda’s dramatic natural undulating terrain to create a driver challenge in the vein of iconic classic tracks like Spa-Francorchamps, Suzuka and Mugello, with nearly 200 meters of total elevation change across 17 corners. Preliminary released renders of the layout already show clear similarities to the opening section of Japan’s Suzuka, and Wurz’s design will be finalized after additional consultation with F1 teams and competing drivers.

    Domenicali described the deal as a landmark moment for F1’s global growth, saying he was proud that the series was opening the sport to a new generation of fans across the African continent. He praised Rwanda as a global success story, highlighting the country’s natural beauty, resilience and growing reputation as a hub for international investment and innovation. For his part, Kagame framed the Grand Prix as more than just a national event, saying it would create jobs, boost tourism, attract new business and skills, and pave the way for future major motorsport events across the continent. He emphasized that the project would help break the long-standing cycle where African athletes achieve global success while the continent sees little economic or infrastructural benefit from international sport.

    The deal has already ignited controversy, however, with critics accusing Rwanda of using the high-profile motorsport event for sportswashing, a practice where nations host major sporting events to distract attention from alleged human rights violations. Rwanda has pushed back against these claims, noting that the project is funded through a combined public-private development fund, rather than diverting funds from social services in a country that still receives international development aid. The Grand Prix is part of Rwanda’s broader five-year economic strategy that aims to attract £3.5bn in private investment to drive national growth, boost tourism and expand GDP.

    Currently, the Democratic Republic of Congo has a case pending against Rwanda at the International Court of Justice, accusing the Rwandan government of violating international treaties on genocide prevention, racial discrimination, women’s rights and torture. F1 is not the first global sports property to face these accusations related to Rwandan partnerships: English Premier League clubs Arsenal and Aston Villa have also faced criticism for sponsorship deals with the Rwandan government. This is not a new issue for F1 either, as the series already hosts races in other countries that have faced sportswashing claims, most notably Saudi Arabia, which is also set to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup.

    In response to the controversy, F1 cited its organizational charter, which commits the series to upholding internationally recognized human rights across its global operations, with mandatory monitoring of potential impacts and stakeholder engagement to address emerging concerns. The league emphasized that bringing F1 to Africa would inspire 100 million new fans and that sport can act as a force for positive change across the continent.

    But human rights advocates have rejected that position. Felix Jakens, head of campaigns at Amnesty International UK, argued that “Rwanda is buying into the world’s biggest sports to polish its image and deflect from its appalling human rights record.” Jakens added that F1’s claims of being a force for good ring hollow when the league ignores the human rights record of its host partners, calling on F1 to use its influence to push for reform rather than lending its global brand to what Jakens called a public relations exercise.